After 53 years, Southwest Airlines is ending its open seating policy in favor of assigned seats. It's a part of a series of new initiatives the company will be implementing to better compete with other carriers. NBC's Emilie Ikeda reports for TODAY.
Held off on taking a summer vacation? You may still be able to squeeze in one on the cheap. Record numbers of travelers have been flooding airports since the pandemic, but U.S. airlines now face a surplus of empty seats after racing to add capacity. Many are slashing prices to fill them, making bargain flights more readily available than they have been in years, travel agents and industry experts say.
Lousson Smith, a flight expert at the travel site Going, agrees: “At this point in the summer, if you’re flexible, you can find something really nice under $150 nonstop from major markets, but anything under $200 this late in the game is a decent deal.” While the costs of U.S. flights to Europe soared during the post-pandemic travel boom, Hopper estimates international airfares have fallen 9% since last summer.
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